We are located on the east side of Gatesville next to the football stadium. There is ample parking, and the main entrance is behind the church.
On November 7, 1854, Rev. Robert Barnard Wells preached the first sermon in the newly-organized town of Gatesville in a clapboard house on the southeast corner of the square that was being used as the courthouse. His wife, Mary Fisher Wells, organized the first Sunday School and private school at their log cabin. Planning soon began for organizing a Methodist Church in Gatesville.
On January 11, 1855, the Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church South came to Gatesville and officially organized the Methodist Church with sixteen members. In 1860, the church members and volunteers built a church building on the corner of 7th and Saunders streets. The Methodists and Baptists shared the building, alternating Sundays. Between 1880 and 1900, several building changes took place, including a move to 8th and Saunders Street, a new wooden church, a new parsonage, and other additions and refurbishments.
Again, a larger building was needed by the congregation. In 1913, a large white brick building was dedicated on Lutterloh Avenue. In 1967 the church purchased the home at 115 N. 28th Street to be used as the parsonage.
Our present structure was completed in 1971. It incorporated many of the stained glass windows from earlier buildings. The church initiated the Let's Grow Learning Center preschool in 1982 and in 1998, a Family Life Center added additional classes and recreational space.
The 150th Anniversary of Methodism in Gatesville was marked with a special dedication service in 2004. Now, we wait for God to lead us as we write the next chapter in the story of our church.
A lifetime can be spent learning all that we believe and applying it to our daily lives or it can be summed up in the words of Jesus, who said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” We believe, however that certain statements serve as the foundation of our faith. These can be found in any of the historical affirmations of faith. They include but are not limited to the following:
A Triune God – We believe in one God that is made known to us through one of three persons;
God the Father - who created the universe and continues to create and restore order to a chaotic world.
God the Son – who is theWord of God who became a human to come to earth to call all people to repent and live a life as he lived
God the Holy Spirit – Who is the person of God that gives new life to people and opens our senses to God’s purpose for us on earth.
To this we believe that when God created the world, God called us to be caretakers of it. As caretakers we understand that all we have came from God and is to be used to further his kingdom on earth. It is not meant to be destroyed, wasted or used for evil.
We believe that the Church is the living body of Christ doing the same things Jesus did when he walked the earth. And that his purpose was to make the The Kingdom of God a reality on earth as it is in heaven. We do this because Jesus commanded us to serve one another
We believe that Scripture contains all that is necessary for salvation. We should devote ourselves to the study of scripture. In the words of John Wesley, we are ‘going on to perfection’ through lifelong learning and service.
We believe that only one baptism is needed to be a part of God’s universal family.
We believe that salvation is a gift from God that cannot be bought or earned. We can be open to receiving it through ‘Means of Grace’, such as Holy Communion, Studying scripture, prayer and meditation, corporate worship and Christian fellowship.
